


Flashback

by alynwa



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 03:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5523173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alynwa/pseuds/alynwa





	Flashback

_He was back in the box, but this time, Ressler wasn’t there.  He was alone being stared down by Anslo Garrick who was holding Luli down on her knees with one hand and holding his gun to her head with the other as he demanded that Director Cooper provide the code to open the door to release Red to him._   
  
_Harold refused again and bang!  Luli’s brains splattered against the bulletproof glass. He couldn’t scream, he couldn’t even speak he was so shocked at the suddenness and violence of her death.  He only snapped out of it when Garrick pulled Dembe to the box and threatened his life if Cooper refused to obey._   
  
_“Open this box.  I’ll give you anything!” he begs and Harold again refuses. He goes to his knees, hands on the glass and does the only thing he can do to comfort Dembe; he prays with him.  “Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none comparable unto Him.”  He feels like he is drowning; he can’t breathe, but he manages to say, “Salaam ya akhi (Goodbye, my brother.)_   
  
_ Bang! _

“Dembe!  Oh God, Dembe,” he sits straight up in his bed, heart pounding almost out of his chest as he covers his face with his hands in an attempt to block out the nightmare and what it showed him. Vaguely, he becomes aware of someone bursting into his room and turning on the overhead light.  He lowers his hands to see a shirtless Dembe standing before him, gun drawn and eyes wildly looking around for the danger.  “I’m sorry I scared you.  I was…dreaming.”

Dembe puts his gun down on the night table and sits on the edge of the bed.  “Tell me.”

When Red shakes his head _no_ , he tells him, “Who was it who paid for all my therapy because I had to tell _someone_ about my past?”  He reaches over and rubs the older man’s shoulder.  “Tell me.  Please.”

Red tells him the dream.  “But instead of what really happened, Garrick kills you the same way he killed Luli.” Shaking his head again, he gets up to use his bathroom.  Dembe can hear him relieve himself, flush and run the water in the sink for awhile.  When he appears again, Dembe can see drops on his face where he’s splashed water.  Red slides back beneath the covers, but draws up his legs and wraps his arms around his knees.

“Raymond, do you want me to stay here with you?”

“No, go back to bed.  I’m alright. Really.”

Dembe slides closer to retrieve his gun from the nightstand, but before he does, he hugs Red tightly and kisses his cheek.  “Get some sleep, Raymond,” he says as he stands, “I will see you in the morning.”

Red watches him leave, slowing long enough to flip the light switch off before heading back to his room.  Sighing heavily, he slides down and turns onto his side. He would never tell anyone, Dembe and Liz included, what would have happened if Garrick had been successful in murdering the man he considered his son.  _I would have killed Cooper,_ he thinks.  He is hit with a flash of guilt because Garrick _did_ kill Luli and Cooper continues to live.  _Grey was to blame._ He still was furious with himself for allowing someone so close to him that could be turned by the Cabal _._

_Luli’s death hurt me deeply, but if anything happened to Dembe…it would destroy me.  It would destroy me and then I would kill whoever did it and then I would burn down their world. _ His last thought as he falls asleep is,  _I pray that never happens._ _Liz would hate me and I would be beyond redemption._


End file.
